News about the increasingly operatic breakup between Cecilia Cheung (張柏芝) and Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒) continues to dominate the grapevine even following the revelation and supposed papering over of what has now become known as the “airplane incident” (機上事件) in which Cheung was recently photographed with her ex-lover Edison Chen (陳冠希). Chen was responsible for a ruckus between Cheung and Tse in 2008 when explicit photos of his sexual adventures, which prominently featured Cheung, were posted on the Internet.
Since the incriminating in-flight photo was published, there have been rumors stemming from one blogger claiming to be a close friend of the couple that this trivial incident had been set aside and that cordial, if not warm, relations had been re-established between the two. This rapprochement either didn’t last long or never actually happened, for in developments this week, Cheung appears to have taken her two children away from the Tse household in an act that the Apple Daily suggests is aimed at causing maximum anxiety to Tse’s mother, Deborah Lee (狄波拉), who reportedly dotes on her two grandchildren.
This most recent action on Cheung’s part has added fuel to the fire in the ongoing battle between Cheung and Lee, who, according to the Apple Daily, hasn’t been a fan of the marriage since first learning of their nuptials in the Philippines through newspaper reports in 2006.
Photo: Taipei Times
The paper suggests that Lee may well be the source of a stream of information about Cheung’s lack of mothering skills, and it is a matter of record that Cheung has put career and lifestyle well ahead of her role of wife and mother. After the most recent marital debacle, the couple continued to pursue their separate careers, though on the financial front, rumors that Cheung is doing her best to suck as much money out of Tse’s family as possible are gaining currency.
According to a report in the United Daily News, Cheung has obtained control over much of Tse’s NT$2.2 billion personal fortune in the course of their marriage. The welfare of their two children and threats of suicide have reportedly been the bargaining chips used in these financial settlements.
Tse, who has not been without his own extra-marital entanglements, has complicated matters with his ongoing friendship with Gillian Chung (鍾欣桐), who, as it happens, was also featured in Chen’s Internet photo scandal. In a revelation earlier this week, Tse reportedly told a friend that “she [Cheung] isn’t my wife any more” (她不再是我的女人).
Still, the situation between Cheung and Tse remains fluid, and nobody in the gossip media is prepared to make any predictions about the outcome.
In a report published yesterday in Hong Kong’s Orient Daily (東方日報) citing an unnamed source close to Tse, the film star has summoned his lawyer to Kuala Lumpur, where he is currently filming, in order to consult on the implications of divorce and custody proceedings. Tse’s father Patrick Tse (謝賢), who had previously taken Cheung’s side in the many matrimonial ups and downs, seems to be closing ranks with his wife and son.
As for Chen, who remains the granddaddy of the explicit photo leak, it seems that he is at it again, though in this instance, the lack of explicit detail has caused some agencies to suggest that Chen is simply playing the media for a fool. The photos to have emerged following the “airplane incident” are of him and Huang Rongmi (黃榕密), a minor Hong Kong starlet who, it is suggested, Chen has had a three-year relationship with. Huang is quoted by Now.com as stating that: “I don’t care if he wants it all day, I’ll always go over. He is very clean, and will always bathe first.” It can’t help but make one wonder when elementary personal hygiene counts for so much among members of the entertainment industry. In the same report, friends of Huang are quoted as suggesting that Chen makes constant sexual demands and will not tolerate refusal. Clearly the scandal of 2008 has done little the tame his appetites.
From an anonymous office in a New Delhi mall, matrimonial detective Bhavna Paliwal runs the rule over prospective husbands and wives — a booming industry in India, where younger generations are increasingly choosing love matches over arranged marriage. The tradition of partners being carefully selected by the two families remains hugely popular, but in a country where social customs are changing rapidly, more and more couples are making their own matches. So for some families, the first step when young lovers want to get married is not to call a priest or party planner but a sleuth like Paliwal with high-tech spy
With raging waters moving as fast as 3 meters per second, it’s said that the Roaring Gate Channel (吼門水道) evokes the sound of a thousand troop-bound horses galloping. Situated between Penghu’s Xiyu (西嶼) and Baisha (白沙) islands, early inhabitants ranked the channel as the second most perilous waterway in the archipelago; the top was the seas around the shoals to the far north. The Roaring Gate also concealed sunken reefs, and was especially nasty when the northeasterly winds blew during the autumn and winter months. Ships heading to the archipelago’s main settlement of Magong (馬公) had to go around the west side
When Portugal returned its colony Macao to China in 1999, coffee shop owner Daniel Chao was a first grader living in a different world. Since then his sleepy hometown has transformed into a bustling gaming hub lined with glittering casinos. Its once quiet streets are now jammed with tourist buses. But the growing wealth of the city dubbed the “Las Vegas of the East” has not brought qualities of sustainable development such as economic diversity and high civic participation. “What was once a relaxed, free place in my childhood has become a place that is crowded and highly commercialized,” said Chao. Macao yesterday
For the authorities that brought the Mountains to Sea National Greenway (山海圳國家綠道) into existence, the route is as much about culture as it is about hiking. Han culture dominates the coastal and agricultural flatlands of Tainan and Chiayi counties, but as the Greenway climbs along its Tribal Trail (原鄉之路) section, hikers pass through communities inhabited by members of the Tsou Indigenous community. Leaving Chiayi County’s Dapu Village (大埔), walkers follow Provincial Highway 3 to Dapu Bridge where a sign bearing the Tsou greeting “a veo veo yu” marks the point at which the Greenway turns off to follow Qingshan Industrial Road (青山產業道路)
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